Statement:

I moved to Kentucky nine months after my birth. I spent my childhood split between the green hills of Kentucky and the magical dark forests of Pennsylvania.

Storytelling plays a prominent role in my work. My earliest artistic inspiration came from oral family stories and folk tales. Love of narrative led me to film school and from there I found painting and writing.

As a result of spending childhood summers on my grandparents' farm, I use the forest as a backdrop. My paintings contain visual narratives usually involving imaginary creatures acting out scenes of magic and illumination.

I am very interested in exploring the unconscious influence of childhood in our adult lives. When I paint, I use innocence and playfulness to explore complex themes. This playfulness comes out through a self-taught style of painting, which contrasts the dark, intricate ideas woven into my work.

I derive visual inspiration from nature, folk tales, philosophy & music and seek to synthesize these elements in my work. My visual style is an organic mix of surrealism and folk art. I use a wide variety of mediums including acrylic, oil, paper-mache, gouache, mixed -media and collage. I strive to allow enough ambiguity for the viewer to draw upon their own imagination to create their own interpretation. My work is not about humans having a spiritual experience, but the spirits having a human experience.

I currently reside in The Dark Forest where I spend most of my time making crafts, comics and art.